5 Most Important Things you must learn about Databases; a Remote DBA Experts Perspective

Believe it or not, most people are using databases in their normal day to day activities and for those who haven’t yet, they probably will at some point. A database is a structured set of data stored in a computer so that people can search, access, retrieve and/or update as often as they want to.

Whether you have been around databases for a while or you are a beginner in the field, there are important things that you should know about databases;

• You can save quality time by converting spreadsheets to databases

Are you overwhelmed by the tons of data that you have been storing in Excel Spreadsheets? Well, good news is, you can save time by converting these spreadsheets into database tables. But how can one create a database in excel? You may ask. First of all, Excel database file is a perfect place for you to store and keep track of important information. Entering data in the excel columns and rows will keep your data organized and free of common error. Owing to the fact that excel has hundreds of rows and columns, you can rest assured that Excel database will hold huge amounts of data.

• The Structured Query Language(SQL) is the heart of relational databases

SQL provides a uniform interface to other database system software like Oracle, SQL Server and Access. That said, an aspiring Database Administrator should take an introductory Structured Query Language course before pursuing your career. Any Database expert advice would state that taking time to educate yourself about SQL (which is the core of all databases) will be an investment to your career. This will give you the skill and knowledge that you need to ground yourself as a qualified Database Administrator.

• Always understand the tools that you are using to program the database

When designing your database, you start by creating database objects like columns, keys, tables, indexes, views, constraints etc. However, you will need Visual database tools for you to easily create these database objects. As a database administrator, it is important that you understand the various tools that can match your database. Some of the common tools provide database users three basic mechanisms; Query & View Designer, the table Designer and the Database Designer.

• Always use the right text encoding when inserting data

For you to make it easy for people to read and understand you, always use the right text encoding when storing your data in the database. Wrong or inadequate encoding will result to data irregularities, wrong text display and unreliable data. In addition to this, using wrong text encoding users will have a hard time searching for information.

• Always use primary keys when creating a database

Databases depend upon keys to store, classify and compare data. If you are familiar with databases and their purpose in an industry setting, you probably know that database keys are classified into three categories; primary keys, candidate keys and foreign keys.

It is advisable that you use primary keys since they are made of single columns that are easy to maintain and faster to use compared to foreign and candidate keys.